


Thanks

by okemmelie



Category: Firebringer - Team StarKid
Genre: F/F, its a college au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 08:13:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21335044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: Zazzalil is hardly ever on time and Jemilla always makes sure the seat next to her is free so they can sit together.
Relationships: Jemilla/Zazzalil (Firebringer)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 52





	1. Fifteen Seconds Early With Starbucks

**Author's Note:**

> it's for the starkid writes discord's weekly prompt, 'thanks', so i went with that as my title. i am a genius. please enjoy !

The first day of college is equal parts exciting and terrifying. Jemilla’s sitting in the first row, notebooks at the ready and phone in hand. She’s texting Emberly, her childhood friend and roommate who’s also studying sociology, just a year above her. She doesn’t want to look like she’s lonely, despite sitting all by herself. Maybe she should have sat in the middle, she thinks to herself. Or maybe she shouldn’t have come as early as she did, so she could have just sat down next to someone else.

As more and more people come in, she gets more and more nervous. She doesn’t want to sit by herself: That’s far more scary than sitting with a complete stranger. But getting up and moving back seems equally scary at this point.

When the lecture is almost about to begin, she’s still sitting alone. So she looks behind her and realizes that she can’t see a free seat. She’s sure there is one, there has to be, but she doesn’t want to be desperately searching for one. Not right now, anyway. It’s too late and she’ll just have to try again tomorrow.

She gets out a pen and readies herself to take notes and suffer alone. Then the door opens and she looks up, expecting a lecturer but finding a girl her age. A short girl right on the cusp of not making it, holding a cup from Starbucks and scanning the room just as desperately as Jemilla did moments earlier. She looks tired, Jemilla notes. But she also looks like she’s heading in Jemilla’s direction.

“Hey!” The girl smiles and Jemilla can’t help but smile back. “Is this seat taken?”

Jemilla shakes her head. “No, it’s actually f–” Before she can finish her sentence, the lecturer shows up. She’s a tall woman with a loud, yet calming voice and she tells the room to quiet down. The girl slips by Jemilla and takes the seat next to her, quickly getting her things out.

Shortly after Jemilla’s started taking notes, the girl leans over and quietly whispers something to her: “Do you by any chance have a pencil I can borrow?” She smiles apologetically and Jemilla finds it adorable. She quickly finds a pen and hands it to the girl. “Thank you. I’m Zazzalil, by the way.”

“Jemilla.”

“Nice to meet you.”

They don’t say another word during the first part of the lecture. Even though it’s only introductory, Jemilla prefers getting as much as possible down on her piece of paper. Plus, they’re sitting in the front row. Speaking doesn’t seem like the best idea. They get to talking in the break and Zazzalil’s nice and charming, and Jemilla can’t help but feel happy with her choice not to move.


	2. So, What Else Do You Need To Know, College Sucks!

College sucks. She hasn’t been there for long, but Zazzalil knows in her heart that it sucks and that it sucks hard. She wakes up much too early every single day to go work a crappy job at a crappy coffee shop. Okay, it’s Starbucks, but it’s whatever. It’s still not good. Then she almost misses class because the walk is always a little longer than she anticipates and it’s rough. She works an evening job as well and it’s not much better. It just makes her feel stressed about not having enough time to read for class, but she feels like she has to work if she wants a chance of ever paying off that gigantic student loan that’s already looming over her and making her feel like she can’t quit.

Fuck. She hates college.

At least she has Jemilla when she’s in class. Jemilla who takes sociology and college a little too serious, but who inspires Zazzalil to do the same. Jemilla who smiles at her even if she’s late for class and who always holds a seat for her and who always makes her feel like everything is just a little bit better.

But it is how it is and Zazzalil hates college. College hates Zazzalil the same. She’s been here for a month and a half, almost two, by now and she’s only really made friends with her roommate, who’s not studying sociology, and Jemilla. And sure, sometimes she talks to this guy on her lunch break, but she’s not sure what his name is and she swears it keeps changing every time she hears anyone speak to him, so she’s just kind of given up at this point.

It’s another day and Zazzalil is late again, but she’s carrying two cups of coffee from Starbucks and someone else is late, so they hold the door open for her. She appreciates it. She makes her way to her usual seat: Front row, next to Jemilla. Jemilla, who of course is already there. Jemilla, who is smiling at her and once again making it all feel a little easier.

Zazzalil gets settled in her seat and sits the coffees down in front of them. “Good morning.” She leans in to whisper it in Jemilla’s ears, then leans away and pushes one of the coffees a bit closer to the other girl.

“Good morning.” Jemilla takes the coffee before Zazzalil’s hand has left the cup entirely and their fingers brush against each other. It makes Zazzalil retreat her hand a little faster. It also makes her heart beat a little faster and her face feel a little warmer. She decides to look at the teacher rather than Jemilla, at least until it passes.


	3. Be Somebody Else, Kiss Somebody New

“You gotta come.” Emberly puts her coffee mug down on the table between them and Jemilla sighs, perhaps a bit too loudly. “Parties aren’t your thing, I know, I know. You’ve said that enough times, but please. It’ll be good for you.”

Jemilla shrugs. “I don’t know. It sounds kind of stupid. I mean, why do I  _ have  _ to dress up? Can’t I just come in my normal clothes and make up a character?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Why not?”

Now it’s Emberly’s turn to sigh. Maybe it’s to stall, maybe it’s out of actual disappointment: Jemilla isn’t quite sure, so she lets it go. “ _ Because _ .”

“That’s a bad argument.”

“Because it’s fun.” Emberly’s boyfriend slips into the seat next to her with his own cup. Whatever it’s filled with, it doesn’t look like coffee to Jemilla. “And because it’s a great way to bond with your fellow students. If someone shows up not looking ridiculous, it suddenly changes the whole mood.”

Jemilla can’t argue with Grunt on that, so she asks Emberly if it’s cool she asks Zazzalil if she wants to come. Emberly tells her that of course it is, so she asks Zazzalil to go with her to the Halloween party. Luckily, Zazzalil says yes. It’s a date!

Or so she thinks.

Jemilla shows up to the party early. She always shows up early. She, Emberly and Grunt have all agreed to come dressed as prehistoric cave people and sure, maybe her outfit is a bit much, but it’s pretty and she likes it and she’s having more fun than she thought she would. Then she sees Zazzalil and she greets the other girl with a big smile.

“Hey! Nice to see you!” Zazzalil meets her smile with one of her own and follows it up with a hug. Jemilla hugs her back. Of course she does. “Sorry we’re a bit late. You would not believe the queue we had to wait in to grab dinner.”

“We?”

“Oh, sorry!” Zazzalil takes a step back and gestures towards a blonde girl that Jemilla only notices just now. “Keeri, this is Jemilla. Jemilla, this is Keeri.”

Whoever Keeri is, she’s lucky to be here with Zazzalil. She’s extremely pretty and her face is kind and Jemilla can understand why Zazzalil would bring her along as a date, but she just wishes she would have known in advance so she wouldn’t have gotten so excited about the dumb idea that her and Zazzalil were going to be here. On a date.

Emberly and Grunt call her over and thank God. She excuses herself and leaves the two other girls to grab a shot with her roommates. Then she sees Zazzalil dancing with Keeri and she takes another shot. It’s a party.

The rational thing to do is to talk to Zazzalil about the miscommunication. She’s sure she’d understand. But Jemilla isn’t thinking rationally. She makes her way onto the dance floor on her own. Here, she runs into Clark. Clark, who puts his arms around her and makes her momentarily forget about her dumb crush on Zazzalil. Zazzalil, who she makes eye contact with through the crowd right before she pulls Clark into a kiss.


	4. Coffee For Two

She’s a little late for class. It’s one of those days again. But at least she has two coffees with her: One for Jemilla and one for herself. They didn’t really get to talk at the Halloween party, but Zazzalil had a fun time with Keeri and Jemilla sure looked like she was enjoying herself with Clark. Zazzalil decides she shouldn’t be bitter about it. Just because she likes Jemilla and has a bit of a crush, she’s not entitled to having Jemilla like her back. So she’s going to be friendly. Bring Jemilla this coffee, ask her about Clark and let life go on.

When she enters the class, the lecturer barely even looks at her. He must be used to her being late by now. She makes her way towards her usual seat, but notices that Jemilla isn’t sitting there.  _ Funny _ , she thinks. Jemilla always texts her when she’s sick.

A quick glance around the class answers her uncertainty. Up a few row sits Jemilla. Next to Clark. No, not even next to him. His arm is wrapped around her shoulder and Zazzalil decides to look away. She sits in the front, more alone than ever. At least she gets to drink two cups of coffee that day. It helps, but only with feeling tired.

They don’t talk in the break. It’s fine.

Jemilla sits with Clark the next day. And the day after. And the day after. And the day after. They still haven’t spoken a word.

It’s more than halfway to December when Zazzalil fully accepts her fate. She’s cursed to hate college and miss Jemilla. She goes to sit alone at lunch, but something stops her. No, not something. Someone.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit with me for lunch, Grunt baby?”

“I’m sure, Emberbabe. But we’ll see each other at home, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Zazz?”

She turns around and looks up. It’s Grant. Or Grunt. Or whatever his name is. “Uh, hey… Grunt?”

“Grant.” Ah.

“Grant. Sorry.” She smiles apologetically but he doesn’t look too bothered. “So, uh… what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch together?”

“Me?”

He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head a bit to the side. “... Yeah?”

“Oh.” She pauses. She didn’t expect this. “Sure?”

So they go. And they find a table. And they have lunch together. And it’s actually pretty nice. No, really nice. Even though college is the absolute worst, she’s happy to at least have someone like Grant who checks up on her.

They start having lunch together a few times every week and it becomes the highlights of her time at college. They don’t talk about anything important or emotional, but Zazzalil likes that. She likes Grant. And she knows he has a girlfriend, so she doesn’t hesitate to say yes when he asks her to come to the Christmas party, because she knows it’s not an invitation to a date and that she can’t get hurt.

Maybe things are making a turn for the better.


	5. Alcohol Isn't The Only Solution

Maybe it’s a bit harsh to cut off all ties to a friend just like that, but in Jemilla’s defense, she never planned it. It just kind of happened. At first, she was hurt, but she got over it and under Clark, and she just kind of got wrapped up in the whole falling in love thing. It happens.

Then, she tried to talk to Zazzalil, but the other girl just looked so upset and Jemilla didn’t know how to deal with that. So she didn’t. And now it’s been so long that she’s decided with herself that it’s okay that she never deals with it.

There’s a Christmas party tonight and even though parties aren’t her scene, they’re Clark’s. So they’re going. She doesn’t mind much. He’s bought her a white wine they can share and Jemilla likes white wine.

They show up together a little earlier than Clark wanted and a little later than Jemilla wished for, but relationships are about compromising and it’s really no issue. There’s a few people there when they arrive, but the party hasn’t really started yet. It does soon, however. The music is loud, but it’s a good time and Jemilla and Clark hit the dance floor together.

A bit later, Emberly calls her over for shots. Grunt is there as well and with Grunt comes Zazzalil these days. They greet each other politely, take the shots and then Jemilla drags Emberly with her out on the dance floor.

When she a few songs later goes to look for Clark, she can’t spot him. Not on the dance floor, anyway. She looks around for a bit and eventually finds him in the kitchen. He’s not alone, however. He’s making out with Claire, an incredibly nice sociology students a few semesters above them. Or maybe not as nice as Jemilla thought.

She doesn’t say anything. She quietly leaves the kitchen and goes for another shot. Then another. Then she decides to grab their white wine. She brings it with her outside and gets seated on the grass, away from the party and the noise and her cheating boyfriend.  _ Fuck _ .

“Hey. Are you alright?” She feels a hand on her shoulder and looks up. It’s Zazzalil.

She smiles. It’s a sad smile. “No. I don’t think so.”

“What happened?” She asks. So Jemilla tells her. She tells her everything that happened tonight.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“Why? You don’t have anything to be sorry for. It’s Clark who’s the major dick here.”

It makes Jemilla smile. It’s less sad this time. “No, I mean… I’m sorry for what happened after the Halloween party.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I just, uh… I know it’s a bit too late, but I’m sorry. I saw you with Keeri and I think I went a little crazy. I really liked you– sitting next to you. I really liked sitting next to you. And I really liked you on top of that. But then I saw you and Keeri together and I totally acted like a fool and I’m sorry.”

Now Zazzalil’s the one who’s smiling. “You liked me?”

“Duh.”

“Shut up. I didn’t notice. I wish I noticed, ‘cause I liked you too?”

“Wait.” Jemilla turns her entire body to face Zazzalil. “You liked me too?”

Zazzalil nods. “I had a huge crush on you. Stop smiling like that, you liked me too, you’re not allowed.”

Jemilla doesn’t know what to do other than smile. When it finally hits her what she could be doing, she’s already leaning in to kiss Zazzalil all on her own.

Luckily, Zazzalil kisses her back.


	6. Sparkly Pink Heart Emoji

Zazzalil wakes up in Jemilla’s bed to the sound of a phone buzzing. She decides to ignore it, because Jemilla’s body feels warm and comfortable against her own and she doesn’t want to leave.

But the phone keeps buzzing and eventually, her curiosity gets the better of her. She carefully unwraps herself from the other girl and leans over to check which of them is getting messages. She checks her own phone first, but gets interrupted when the buzzing sounds once again.

It’s coming from Jemilla’s phone and despite her better judgement, she takes a look.

**Incoming message from ‘Clark 💖’** :  _ Babe. Seriously. Answer me! _

She shouldn’t look at any more of these messages, she thinks to herself as she scrolls to the bottom of the new notifications.

All the messages are from Clark. Clark, who has a sparkly pink heart emoji after his name. Clark, who is technically still Jemilla’s boyfriend. Clark, who’s girlfriend Zazzalil slept with yesterday.

Cheating is bad. Clark cheated on Jemilla, but Jemilla cheated on Clark too and Zazzalil starts feeling bad. Not just a little. A lot. And however warm the bed and Jemilla’s body feels, she decides that she has to leave. So she carefully crawls out of bed and gets dressed. She can’t think of a time where she’s been more quiet than she is now.

She finds a piece of paper and writes a note:

_ Jemilla _

<strike> _ I’ve had a good time with y _ </strike>

<strike> _ You’re really pretty an _ </strike>

<strike> _ I wish we could do this aga _ </strike>

<strike> _ Call me when you and Clark b _ </strike>

_ Thanks _

_ \- Zazz _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been real ! i considered making it longer but uhhh we love a vague anything goes ending


End file.
